Enhancing the leaching effect of an ion-absorbed rare earth ore by ameliorating the seepage effect with sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant

Ameliorating the problem of low leaching efficiency,long leaching period,and high agent consumption should be studied to efficiently exploit ion-absorbed rare earth ore resources.In this study,the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS) is used to enhance the leaching effect of an ion-absorbed rare earth ore by ameliorating the seepage effect for the first time.The effects of surfactant concentration,leaching agent dosage,solution flow velocity,and solution pH on the leaching rate were explored,and the mechanism of SDS was discussed.Under the optimum conditions,the addition of a small amount of SDS(mass fraction0.04%) can increase the leaching rate by about 5%,shorten the leaching period,and reduce the consumption of the leaching agent.SDS significantly ameliorates the seepage effect of the ore body by reducing the surface tension of the leaching agent and ameliorating the wettability of the mineral surface.This effect is the main factor that improves the leaching efficiency.DFT(density functional theory) calculation results show that SDS can react with rare earth ions,which reduces the adsorption strength on clay mineral surfaces.Hence,rare earth ions are easily exchanged by ammonium ions,and mass transfer is enhanced.

Seepage effects of groundwater and its make-up water on triggering ground subsidence

The functioning mechanism of groundwater and its make-up water in the process of ground subsidence was studied from such three aspects as osmotic corrasion, osmotic pressure effect and concretion effect, As to osmotic corrasion, its forming conditions, mechanical mechanism and process were analyzed, As to osmotic pressure effect, it was mainly studied from hydrostatic pressurizing effect, sop softening effect and negative pressure sealing effect. Through concretion and saturation of soil, the factors of concretion settlement were analyzed. The results showed that both groundwater and its make-up water are important triggering factors to ground subsidence.

Active earth pressure for subgrade retaining walls in cohesive backfills with tensile strength cut-off subjected to seepage effects

The commonly used Mohr-Coulomb(M-C) failure condition has a limitation that it overestimates the tensile strength of cohesive soils. To overcome this limitation, the tensile strength cut-off was applied where the predicted tensile strength is reduced or eliminated. This work then presented a kinematical approach to evaluate the active earth pressure on subgrade retaining walls in cohesive backfills with saturated seepage effects. An effective rotational failure mechanism was constructed assuming an associative flow rule. The impact of seepage forces, whose distribution is described by a closed-form solution, was incorporated into the analysis. The thrust of active earth pressure was derived from the energy conservation equation, and an optimization program was then coded to obtain the most critical solution. Several sets of charts were produced to perform a parameter analysis. The results show that taking soil cohesion into account has a distinct beneficial influence on the stability of retaining walls, while seepage forces have an adverse effect. The active earth pressure increases when tensile strength cut-off is considered, and this increment is more noticeable under larger cohesion.

Impact of Osmotic Pressure on Seepage in Shale Oil Reservoirs

Following large-scale volume fracturing in shale oil reservoirs,well shut-in measures are generally employed.Laboratory tests and field trials have underscored the efficacy of fracturing fluid imbibition during the shut-in phase in augmenting shale oil productivity.Unlike conventional reservoirs,shale oil reservoirs exhibit characteristics such as low porosity,low permeability,and rich content of organic matter and clay minerals.Notably,the osmotic pressure effects occurring between high-salinity formation water and low-salinity fracturing fluids are significant.The current understanding of the mobilization patterns of crude oil in micro-pores during the imbibition process remains nebulous,and the mechanisms underpinning osmotic pressure effects are not fully understood.This study introduces a theoretical approach,by which a salt ion migration control equation is derived and a mathematical model for spontaneous imbibition in shale is introduced,which is able to account for both capillary and osmotic pressures.Results indicate that during the spontaneous imbibition of low-salinity fluids,osmotic effects facilitate the migration of external fluids into shale pores,thereby complementing capillary forces in displacing shale oil.When considering both capillary and osmotic pressures,the calculated imbibition depth increases by 12%compared to the case where only capillary forces are present.The salinity difference between the reservoir and the fracturing fluids significantly influences the imbibition depth.Calculations for the shutin phase reveal that the pressure between the matrix and fractures reaches a dynamic equilibrium after 28 days of shut-in.During the production phase,the maximum seepage distance in the target block is approximately 6.02 m.

Pore structure characteristics of the relative water-resisting layer on the top of the Ordovician in Longgu Coal Mine

In order to study the permeability and water-resisting ability of the strata on the top of the Ordovician in Longgu Coal Mine, this paper tested the permeability and porosity of the strata, investigated the fracture and pore structure features of the strata, and identified the main channels which govern the permeability and water-resisting ability of the strata. The permeability of the upper, central and lower strata shows as 2.0504 × 10^-3-2.782762× 10^-3, 4.1092 × 10^-3 -7.3387 × 10^-3 and 2.0891 ×10^-3-3.2705 × 10-3 μm^2, respectively, and porosity of that is 0.6786-0.9197%, 0.3109-0.3951% and 0.9829-1.8655%, respectively. The results indicate that： （I） the main channels of the relative water-resisting layer are the pore throats with a diameter more than 6 μm; （2） the major proportion of pore throats in the vertical flow channel and the permeability first increases and then sharply decreases; （3） the fractures occurring from the top to 20 m in depth of the strata were filled and there occurred almost no fracture under the depth of 40 m; and （4） the ratio of turning point of the main flow channel in the strata on top of Ordovician can be used to confirm the thickness of filled water-resisting lavers.